On-line betting game

ABSTRACT

The game is implemented by means of a computer system that comprising at least one terminal suitable for presenting data to a player and for enabling the player to provide parameters to the system; and a game site coupled to each terminal. The game comprises the following sequence of successive steps: a) presenting the player with a plurality of N competitor-elements forming a predefined set, the competitor-elements being suitable for being classified as a whole in an ordered list that can be determined after some future event has occurred; b) asking the player to select one of the N competitor-elements as a reference element; and c) asking the player to select one of the N−1 remaining competitor-elements as a competitor-element, with the player forecasting that it is to have a relative rank in the classification that is higher, or respectively lower, than that of the reference element; to the exclusion of forecasting the winning competitor-elements that will present the highest absolute ranks after classification has occurred; and after the future event has occurred: d) if the relative rank of the competitor-element is higher, or respectively lower, than that of the reference element, calculating a winning score and allocating the score to the player.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to an on-line betting game implemented by computermeans in which a player makes a forecast relating to the ordering of aplurality of competitor-elements from a given set, the order beingestablished after some future event has occurred, and being unknown tothe player at the time the forecast is made.

DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

Numerous interactive on-line games are known that make use of a gamesite and a terminal that is available to a player, for example thosethat are described in applications US 2006/0281510 A1 for“Computer-implemented question-and-answer game” and US 2008/0293480 A1for “A method of developing the activity of an on-line forecastingsite”, both in the name of Moreno, and incorporated herein by reference.

Those applications describe on-line games based on making forecasts: forexample, in application US 2006/0281510 A1, a question from an opinionpoll is put to the player and the player is requested, not to give hisor her own opinion for answering the poll, but rather to guess theresult that was obtained using the population that was polled, a resultthat the player naturally does not know. In application US 2008/0293480A1, the player is asked to make a forecast, e.g. concerning the audiencefor a television program, or indeed the weather situation on thefollowing day, or the results of sporting or stock exchange events.

In general, betting games are based on making forecasts, i.e. the playeris asked to make a conjecture concerning some future event that isessentially deterministic, i.e. that involves little or no chance,unlike games that involve a smaller or greater random element or evengames in which luck plays an essential part such as lotto games, casinogames, etc.

Another characteristic of such betting games is that they do not involvehidden data, insofar as the unknown parameter (the rank of thecompetitor-elements in the order) is future data that is not yet knownduring the period when the players are invited to make their forecasts.

Such games are generally simple derivatives of traditional sportsbetting such as combination betting on horse races (on the first three,or four, or five, . . . places), where the player is asked to forecastwhich of the competitors in the list submitted to the player will beamongst the first three (or four, or five, . . . ) places, i.e. thethree (or four, or five, . . . ) of them that will be at the top of theordering once the event has occurred, i.e. after the test has takenplace.

The winning player is the player who forecasts which competitor-elements(the horses) will come in the first places. Numerous variants make itpossible to increase the kinds of bet that can be made and to varyaccordingly the winnings that can be allocated: bets with or without theright placings, etc.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to propose a novel form of betmaking it possible to extend the range of games beyond theabove-mentioned traditional formulae such as first three, five, etc.,all of which are based on forecasting the winners of the test and theorder in which they will be placed at the top of the list.

Essentially, the game of the invention consists in: i) allowing theplayer to select any one of the competitor-elements from the setpresented to the player (which selected element is referred to below asthe “reference element”); and ii) asking the player to forecast whichcompetitor-elements, according to the player, will lie immediatelybefore and/or immediately after the reference element in the finalorder, once the future event has taken place.

In its most general form, the game of the invention is implemented bymeans of a computer system having at least one terminal suitable forpresenting data to a player and for enabling the player to provideparameters to the system, and a player site that is coupled to eachterminal, and the game comprises the following sequence of successivesteps:

a) presenting the player with a plurality of N competitor-elementsforming a predefined set, the competitor-elements being suitable forbeing classified as a whole in an ordered list that can be determinedafter some future event has occurred;

b) asking the player to select one of the N competitor-elements as areference element; and

c) asking the player to select one of the N−1 remainingcompetitor-elements as a competitor-element, with the player forecastingthat it is to have a relative rank in the classification that is higher,or respectively lower, than that of the reference element; to theexclusion of forecasting the winning competitor-elements that willpresent the highest absolute ranks after classification has occurred;and after the future event has occurred:

d) if the relative rank of the competitor-element is higher, orrespectively lower, than that of the reference element, calculating awinning score and allocating the score to the player.

The game of the invention thus presents two particular features comparedwith traditional betting games:

1) it is based on a relative classification, i.e. the game does notconsist in asking the player to forecast the best competitors, but onlyto forecast which competitor-element is going to be classifiedimmediately before and/or immediately after a reference element selectedby the player; and

2) the player is free to select the reference element that can beselected from amongst any of the competitor-elements, even, and aboveall, from amongst competitor-elements that are not expected to besituated at the top of the classification (i.e. the “favorites”).

Numerous variants can be envisaged, thereby enabling the winnings thatare allocated to players to be modulated.

Thus, it is indeed possible to restrict the bet to selecting thecompetitor-element that will be situated immediately before (and/orimmediately after) the reference element in the classification, i.e. toallocate a winning score to the player only if the ranks of thecompetitor-element and of the reference element are consecutive in thefinal classification.

However, it is also possible to nevertheless allocate a winning score toa player if all of the competitor-elements have been put in the rightorder relative to the reference element, i.e. if the competitor-elementproposed is indeed classified before (and/or after) the referenceelement, even if the competitor-element is not immediately before(and/or immediately after) the reference element once the future eventhas occurred.

Under such circumstances, the score may be calculated as an inversefunction of the difference in ranking between the competitor-element andthe reference element, i.e. the score is higher when the proposedcompetitor-element and reference element are closer together in theclassification, with the highest score being allocated when thecompetitor-element is situated immediately before (and/or immediatelyafter) the reference element.

Another variant consists in asking the player to forecast which will bethe two (or more) competitor-elements that precede (and/or follow) thereference element in the classification. The score will naturally becorrespondingly higher when the forecast does indeed correspond to acorrect and immediately consecutive order for the variouscompetitor-elements relative to the reference elements.

The game of the invention can be applied to a very great variety ofcompetitor-elements:

programs broadcast simultaneously on various television channels, theclassification being based on the audience ratings achieved by each ofthe channels while broadcasting the programs in question;

securities listed on the same market, with the classification beingdetermined by the mark of each of the securities at a predeterminedmoment;

sports teams playing in a common category, the classification being thatobtained by each of the teams in the category at the end of a series ofcompetitions.

Advantageously, the player selects the reference element and thecompetitor-elements for forecasting purposes via a graphics interfacecomprising a series of fields displayed on a screen of the terminal,these fields being movable under controlled action of the player so asto drag the fields on the screen and make a stack that is representativeof the player's forecast.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

There follows a more detailed description of an implementation of theinvention, with reference to the accompanying drawing.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a computer system suitable for use in thecontext of the game of the invention, illustrating the variousfunctional units involved in implementing the game.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the way in which the screen appears in thegame of the invention and the way in which the player makes choices.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a computer system suitable for implementing the inventionby means of an Internet site with which the player can make a connectionby any appropriate means, in particular by means of a computer, or of aportable telephone or a personal digital assistant (PDA) suitable forexchanging data with the game site via a cellular network, using variouswell-known technologies. However this configuration is not limiting inany way, and the invention can be implemented in other ways, providingthere are means available for interactive bidirectional data interchangebetween the player and the game site that organizes the sequencing ofthe various steps of the method of the invention.

In FIG. 1, reference 10 designates microcomputers used by players. Eachmicrocomputer 10 is connected to a telecommunications networkconstituted in this example by a terrestrial wired network such as atelephone network (in switched mode or in DSL mode), a cabledistribution network, or indeed a connection to the Internet via aserver that is common to a plurality of stations.

The game may also be implemented on cell phones 12 having functions thatenable them to exchange digital data using various well-knowntechnologies such as SMS, WAP, GPRS, or UMTS-3G. The users of suchnetworks can thus occupy idle moments (on public transport, while in awaiting room, etc.) by playing the game of the invention, with the hopeof winning prizes.

The computer or telephone terminals 10 or 12 are connected viaappropriate respective interfaces 14, 16 to a game site 20 that issuitable for exchanging digital data with the terminals. The user beginsby identifying him or herself with the game site 20 by a protocol thatis itself conventional, and comprising, as appropriate, issuing aspecific address or telephone number and then sending a subscriberidentifier or number (login) and a password.

Each terminal can display text messages on a screen, and in particularinformation received from the game site 20, with it being possible forthe user to key-in alphanumeric data and send it in return to the gamesite 20.

In this respect, the game site 20 acts, in combination with theinterfaces 14 and 16, to format messages as a function of the type ofterminal used, computer terminal or telephone terminal. Thus, forcomputer terminals 10, the messages are formatted so as to be capable ofbeing received and displayed in the form of web pages readable using abrowser, whereas for mobile telephones the messages are formatted, forexample, as WAP pages, that are better suited to being displayed on ascreen of small size.

One particular possibility is constituted by Apple's mobile telephoneknown as an “iPhone” (registered trademark) that is specially arrangedto host applications, which applications are advantageously suitable forbeing operated by means of a touch screen.

Nevertheless, it should be observed that the content of messagesformatted by the game site 20 and by the interfaces 14 and 16, i.e. theactual information exchanged with the various terminals, is identicalregardless of the formatting, with the only changes relating to layout,and depending on whether the information is to be displayed on acomputer terminal or on a telephone terminal.

The various formats mentioned above for presenting information are notlimiting, and the same basic information can be presented to playersusing a variety of formats, from the smallest (screen of a portabletelephone) to the largest (display on a giant screen, e.g. in a TVstudio); the difference resides solely in the way the various pieces ofinformation presented to the player are presented, with the presentationbeing adapted to the presentation medium being used.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INVENTION

There follows a description of how the game of the invention takesplace, in a particular preferred example.

This example is that of a forecasting game relating to the audiences ofTV programs.

It will readily be understood that this example is not limiting, and canbe transposed to other situations, in particular to stock market indiceswhere it is possible to define categories and sub-categories that canconstitute the subject matter of specific bets, e.g. indices concerningcompanies in the energy, transport, building, etc. sectors, or indeedindices concerning raw materials, e.g. distinguishing between metals,precious metals, etc.

Naturally, the invention is also applicable to more conventional betssuch as betting on horse races, the ranking of football teams, etc.

An essential characteristic of the invention lies in the fact that theplayer is not asked to bet on the ranking of the best participants inthe test, i.e. on the names of the winners (e.g. the three TV programshaving the highest ratings, or the first three horses in a race, etc.)as happens in conventional sports betting such as placing a combinationbet on three or more horses, with or without the right placings.

On the contrary, in the present invention, the player is asked to bet ona group of competitors, possibly far removed from the “favorites” group(i.e. those that have the greatest chance of coming in first). Theplayer begins by selecting one of these participants (referred to as the“reference element”), and then forecasts which competitor, according tothe player, will have a rank, after the test has been run, that is aboveand/or below the rank of the selected competitor. This amounts to makinga bet on a relative ranking, with the comparison being relative to theselected reference (the reference element).

It will be understood that the difficulty is made that much greater bythe player selecting as the reference element a competitor with littlechance of coming in first.

Although favorites are subjected to a large amount of analysis as totheir respective chances of coming in first (which analysis is itselfpublished in numerous media), information is much sparser for thecompetitors who are not favored and who attract much less attention fromcommentators, journalists, and analysts.

With reference to FIG. 2 there follows a description of a particularexample where the competitor elements are TV programs.

The audiences for these broadcasts are measured in terms of a parameterthat is quantified, known as the “audience rating”, and the player'sforecast relates to the relative comparative ratings of differentprograms, e.g. broadcast simultaneously on a plurality of channels.

Naturally, the forecasts of the comparative audience ratings of thevarious channels to be formulated before the event occurs, i.e. beforethe measured audience rating is made public.

Forecasts may be accepted before the broadcast, and also even while itis taking place (so as to simulate the interest of players, and thus thetraffic on the site), or even after the broadcast has ended, up to sometime limit prior to the publication of audience ratings.

The player sees a display 22 appear on the screen that gives a list 24of television channels, e.g. the 21 most-viewed channels amongst sevenanalog channels, seven broadcast digital channels, and seven satellitechannels, with each channel title being associated with a description 26of the program that is to be broadcast at a particular time.

The display shown to the player may optionally depend on parametersselected by the player, such as: time of broadcast (prime time orevening broadcast, . . . ), the type of program (e.g. the people invitedto the program over a given period), the list of movies that are to bebroadcast on the various channels during a given period, or any othertype of bet. The player may also select the type of bet: three- four- orfive-element bet and whether or not they need to have the rightplacings.

The example shown corresponds to a three-element bet but made on thevarious programs broadcast simultaneously at prime time on the variouschannels.

Advantageously, the player makes the bet via a graphics interface bypointing to one of the items in the list, e.g. item 28 “Canal+” and thendragging it to a dedicated zone 30 thus giving the channel “Canal+” asthe reference element. The same means are used to group together withthe reference element 28 two other programs that, according to theplayer, are going to have a higher audience rating and a lower audiencerating, respectively than the rating of the reference element, bysliding the corresponding items 32 and 34 into the zone 30. The bet madein this way is confirmed by clicking on a button 36.

The winning score allocated by the site will naturally be a function ofdifficulty, and will be greater under the following circumstances:

the number N of competitor-elements is large;

the forecast relates to a large number M of competitor-elements:typically M=3 for a three-element bet (as described above with referenceto FIG. 2), M=5 for a five-element bet (with two competitor-elementspreceding the reference element and two competitor-elements followingit); and

the bet is made on the competitor-element(s) that is/are situated“immediately before” and/or “immediately after” the reference element inthe final order, or merely “before” and/or “after”.

For a bet of the “immediately before/immediately after” the probabilityof finding the combination by chance is:

[(N−M+1)!]/(N!)

For a mere “before/after” bet, this probability becomes:

1/(M!)

If it is bet merely that the results will be “grouped together”, i.e.that no other competitor-element will lie between them in the group of Mselected competitors, regardless of whether the elements are selectedwith the right placings, then the probability becomes:

M!*[(N−M+1)!]/(N!)

One way of calculating winnings can be given, by way of example, by thefollowing expression:

G=(10^(p))^(R)

where:

p=(M−2) is the “depth” of the bet, with a depth p=1 corresponding to athree-element type bet (i.e. p=1 competitor before and 1 competitorafter the reference element); and

R being a parameter referred to as the “risk factor” and having theform:

R=1/(Focus−N)

where Focus is the rank obtained by the reference element once the orderis known: this serves to weight the risk factor, giving it a smallervalue when the player has selected as the reference element a competitorthat was well positioned in the test, therefore corresponding a priorito a competitor that was amongst the favorites and about which theplayer could have had available a large amount of information andanalyses concerning the chances of the test prior to the test takingplace.

In contrast, the greater the extent to which the forecast relates tocompetitors situated far away from the favorites, the higher the riskfactor and thus the greater the hope of winning—in exponential manner,insofar as the parameter R acts like a second exponent.

1. An on-line betting game implemented by means of a computer systemthat comprises: at least one terminal suitable for presenting data to aplayer and for enabling the player to provide parameters to the system;and a game site coupled to each terminal; and the game comprising thefollowing sequence of successive steps: a) presenting the player with aplurality of N competitor-elements forming a predefined set, thecompetitor-elements being suitable for being classified as a whole in anordered list that can be determined after some future event hasoccurred; b) asking the player to select one of the Ncompetitor-elements as a reference element; and c) asking the player toselect one of the N−1 remaining competitor-elements as acompetitor-element, with the player forecasting that it is to have arelative rank in the classification that is higher, or respectivelylower, than that of the reference element; to the exclusion offorecasting the winning competitor-elements that will present thehighest absolute ranks after classification has occurred; and after thefuture event has occurred: d) if the relative rank of thecompetitor-element is higher, or respectively lower, than that of thereference element, calculating a winning score and allocating the scoreto the player.
 2. The game of claim 1, wherein the winning scorecalculated in step d) is an inverse function of the difference betweenthe rank of the competitor-element and the rank of the referenceelement.
 3. The game of claim 1, wherein the winning score is allocatedto the player solely if the ranks of the competitor-element and of thereference element are consecutive.
 4. An on-line betting gameimplemented by means of a computer system that comprises: at least oneterminal suitable for presenting data to a player and for enabling theplayer to provide parameters to the system; and a game site coupled toeach terminal; and the game comprising the following sequence ofsuccessive steps: a) presenting the player with a plurality of Ncompetitor-elements forming a predefined set, the competitor-elementsbeing suitable for being classified as a whole in an ordered list thatcan be determined after some future event has occurred; b) asking theplayer to select one of the N competitor-elements as a referenceelement; and c) asking the player to select one of the N−1 remainingcompetitor-elements as a first competitor-element, with the playerforecasting that it is to have a relative rank in the classificationthat is higher than that of the reference element; d) asking the playerto select one of the N−2 remaining competitor-elements as a secondcompetitor-element, with the player forecasting that it is to have arelative rank in the classification that is lower than that of thereference element; to the exclusion of forecasting the winningcompetitor-elements that will present the highest absolute ranks afterclassification has occurred; and after the future event has occurred: e)calculating a winning score and allocating this score to the playerif: 1) the rank of the first competitor-element is higher than that ofthe reference element; and 2) the rank of the second competitor-elementis lower than that of the reference element.
 5. The game of claim 4,wherein the winning score calculated in step e) is an inversefunction: 1) of the difference between the rank of the firstcompetitor-element and the rank of the reference element; and 2) of thedifference between the rank of the second competitor-element and therank of the reference element.
 6. The game of claim 4, wherein thewinning score is calculated and allocated to the player only if, inaddition: 1) the rank of the first competitor-element and of thereference element are consecutive; and 2) the ranks of the secondcompetitor-element and of the reference element are also consecutive. 7.The game of claim 4, further including the following steps: in steps c)and d): c1) also asking the player to select one of the N−3 remainingcompetitor-elements as a third competitor-element, for which the playerforecasts that it will have a relative rank in the classification thatis higher than that of the first competitor-element; d1) asking theplayer to select one of the remaining N−4 competitor-elements as afourth competitor-element, that the player forecasts will have arelative rank in the classification that is lower than that of thesecond competitor-element; and in step e): calculating a winning scoreand allocating it to the player if, in addition: 3) the relative rank ofthe third competitor-element is higher than that of the firstcompetitor-element; and 4) the relative rank of the fourthcompetitor-element is lower than that of the second competitor-element.8. The game of claim 4, wherein a subsidiary winning score is allocatedto the player if the respective rank of the first competitor-element,the second competitor-element, and the reference element areconsecutive, but without the right placings.
 9. The game of claim 4,wherein: steps c1) and d1) are iterated at least one additional timewith successive remaining competitor-elements; and in step e), thewinning score is calculated and allocated to the player if, in addition:5) the relative ranks of the competitor-elements selected during theseiterations are progressively higher; and 6) the relative ranks of thecompetitor-elements selected during these iterations are progressivelylower.
 10. The game of claim 4, wherein the elements are programsbroadcast simultaneously on respective television channels, and saidpredefined criterion is the audience rating achieved by each of thechannels while broadcasting said programs.
 11. The game of claim 4,wherein the elements are sporting teams playing in a given category, andsaid predefined criterion is the classification obtained by each of theteams in said category at the end of a series of competitions.
 12. Thegame of claim 4, wherein the elements are securities listed on the samemarket, and said predefined criterion is the mark of each of thesecurities at a predetermined moment.
 13. The method of claim 4, whereinsteps b) to d) are implemented via a graphics interface having a seriesof fields displayed on a screen of the terminal, these fields beingmovable by controlled action of the player so as to cause them to bedragged across the screen and form a stack that is representative of theplayer's choice.